Most of all Russians love watching TV. The second most pleasant thing is getting good money, Levada.ru reported, according to results of a poll from April 2018.

Things that Russians love doing

The research was not performed via an online poll, as usual these days. Levada conducted the survey by a personal interview at respondents’ homes. Around 1,600 people answered questions of interviewers about things that bring them joy. People were allowed to mark more than 1 choice.

• Watching TV is the most favourite activity for residents of Russia. 34% of people named it as the thing that brings them joy. In 2010 it was #2 with 28% after getting good money, which slid to this sport in 2018. Apparently, Russians don’t get good money that often, this is why this year only 26% of respondents said it was their most joyous thing to do (33% in 2010).
• Spending time with kids and having a tasty meal scored both 24% in this year’s survey, sharing spots #3 and #4.
• Gardening is nearly as popular, with 23% of participants saying it brings them joy.
• 22% of people enjoy activities such as spending time with a partner, cooking a tasty meal or travelling.
• 20% of respondents mentioned listening to music, reading a book or having guests over as something they enjoy doing.
• 17% of Russians who were interviewed say they love doing home chores and maintenance.
• Shopping and wandering in a forest give joy to 16% of respondents.
• 15% love spending money as if there were no tomorrow.
• Lovemaking gives joy only to 12% of respondents. (Surprise, surprise! Apparently, Russians love watching TV or even doing home chores more than making love.) The same 12% of interviewees enjoy drinking in a good company, hunting and fishing, and simply being alone.
• Playing with pets scored 10%.
• Only 9% of respondents enjoy working out or hard work.
• Learning new things and playing computer games bring pleasure to 8% of Russians who took the poll.
• Supporting a favourite team is enjoyable for 7% of the survey respondents.
• 5% of people who agreed to answer questions said they loved to organize people to do something useful. (That’s actually a lot.)
• Playing chess or other table games is fun for 3% of locals and participating in politics gives joy to 1% of the respondents.

Russians seem to be rather an idle bunch

Except for gardening, not many respondents like doing something active. Gardening is indeed an activity that is typical for people living in Russia, as we reported earlier, explaining about “dachas” — country side houses that locals use to grow vegetables and berries for home consumption.

Home chores or gardening are an enjoyable pastime for quite a lot of people (17%), which is rather strange, as only 12% mentioned lovemaking as something that makes them happy. We can only assume that Russians don’t get much physical love or it’s not very enjoyable, or possibly, they were too shy to mention it.

A western study found that making love is the activity that makes us the most present.

Young and old enjoy different things

The study statistics paint a different picture if we take age in consideration.

• Young people enjoy most of all listening to music: 39% of respondents aged 18-24 love a good tune. They also rate spending time with a partner as their #2 favourite activity (38%). Young Russians love travel (33%) and making love (24%), as well as take joy in physical exercise (21%). 1 in 5 young adult enjoys learning new things and playing computer games.
• Russians aged 30-39 love spending time with kids and getting good money (35%). The group 40-49 also listed the same favourite joyous pursuits.
• It is the group 50+ that likes watching TV and gardening the most.

Men and women, too, love different activities

You could probably guess that it weren’t ladies who voted for fishing or hunting.

• Across all ages, men list as joyful having a good meal (31%) and watching TV (33%).
• About 25% of men love fishing and hunting (apparently, 0% of females love these things).
• 1 in 5 guys ticked drinking in a good company as something he enjoys (again, ladies took a pass on this one).

The ladies, obviously, love something else. What exactly?

• On average, women’s joy comes mostly from watching TV (33%) and kids (31%).
• Females are happier to work in a garden, host parties for guests, read books or go shopping.

The more educated respondents got less joy from watching TV and were happier to spend time with family and kids, travel, reading and music.

People who are less educated tend to enjoy playing with pets more.

For richer, for poorer

Respondents who had higher incomes enjoyed spending time with a partner, lovemaking or travelling more than the ones who earn little.

People who live in Moscow like spending money as if there was no tomorrow and list shopping and travel as the pastime they enjoy more often.

Small town dwellers tend to take joy in simple things of life: working in the garden and homemaking. Basically, trying to meet everyday needs, as they don’t have enough money to buy food they want, thus residents are forced to supplement their diet with home-grown produce. It’s not only a hobby, but a necessity. They grow things to eat or sell, not just for fun.

Married and single

Watching television and spending time with kids were listed more often by people who are married.

Divorced and widowed Russians take more joy in watching TV, gardening and reading.

Single Russian women and men show preferences rather typical of the young generation, which is music, getting good money, travelling and playing computer games.

What would your Russian love find pleasurable? Now you can make an educated guess!

Read also:

• What makes Russians happy?
• Do Russians have a sense of humour?
• Russians are becoming more conservative in love and sex
• 10 deadly sins of dating Russian women